American Chopper really is a difficult game to recommend or discourage. On one hand, the experience in the shop is great. There are tons of ways to customize bikes, and every character has their own storyline that keeps the game feeling like the show. Models look great, and production value is strong. On the other hand, however, is the gameplay, which feels like a clunky version of GTA. A game like that gets cut some slack since there is just so much aside from driving, but in a situation like this there should be way more strength in the racing portions. If I spend a ton of time building a bitchin' bike, I expect to have a blast riding it. It is more fun to tweak your chopper than it is to ride it, and that is a flaw in the design's execution. The game needs to be at 50/50, and right now it is about 80/20 towards designing rather than driving. If American Chopper played as well as it felt, we would be in for a serious contender for shelf space. Instead, it is a flawed licensed title that looks and acts far better than it plays.
